The nostalgic huts of the Xmas Market offered everything from beeswax candles to traditional sweets and woodcraft from the Erz Mountains region. Although everything was lovely I was particularly drawn to one hut that sold rows and rows of colourful handpainted Matryoshka Dolls. I remember having one of these as a child - no idea what happened to it - but I still find them absolutely charming! I finally settled on a ruby red one. It's an original one, so it wasn't exactly cheap! My Christmas present to myself :)

The Russian lady that manned the hut gave me some good advice: never twist the dolls to open, simply pull the top straight up and off. This will prevent the wood from splitting!

Thursday, December 22

I'm currently on vacation, so this is a scheduled post. I don't have internet access except if I find an internet cafe somewhere, so I may not be able to respond to your comments / Ich bin im Urlaub und habe leider kein Zugriff auf das Internet, es sei denn ich finde ein Internetcafé; dieser Blogeintrag ist voreingestellt.

Dear blogfriends, dear readers old and new...

wishing you a joyous holiday season ~ may the peace and joy of the holiday be with you throughout the coming year! Merry Christmas and take care always,

I received the most gorgeous, incredibly soft, comfy and light-weight micro fleece the other day. The print is called "church flowers in pink" and it is from popular designer Heather Bailey's nostalgic Nicey Jane collection! Heather only recently gave birth to her third child, so instead of designing a new collection she launched a few prints in anti-pilling fleece quality to make up for it. Good job she did too! The fleece just called out to me to make a cowl...

Do clickon the individual pictures - you might find the perfect gift there! I will be closing my Etsy shop tomorrow, since I will be travelling next week, and I will only have sporadic access to the internet.

Thursday, December 15

...means "sweet tooth" in German, and it seems I'm turning into one! The displays and variety of Christmas chocs and sweets at supermarkets are getting bigger each year. Funny how they are always located at check-out, tempting the unsuspecting buyer (me).

Saturday, December 10

Today I have the pleasure to introduce to you the artisan Kathleen, who owns MissusD and MissusDPaperie on Etsy. Kat, who hails from sunny Singapore, currently lives in Munich, Germany. She's an architect turned fibre artist with emphasis on crochet. In her main shop you will find a variety of limited edition handmade designer art toys and objects for Kidults as well as beautiful crocheted Vintage lace covered rocks. Her second shop specializes in printable stationery and digital art.

Panda Amigurumi

When Kat moved to Germany she didn't know exactly what she would be doing, but she definitely needed to express her creativity in some way. Every day brings new inspiration, and she likes to act on what she gets inspired by. This is reflected in the diversity of items in her shop(s). Listening to feedback of her fan base has helped her slowly understand her signature style. She says it's a wonderful thing to interact with her audience using her work! And it has actually widened her circle in Germany. She came to this country without any contacts or business experience. In the course of her work she has come to understand what it takes to build a creative business and how she would like to interact with people. Looking back, she has really lived her life passionately, and that is the most valuable part of doing what she is doing now.

One eye alien plant Amigurumi / Einäugige Alienpflanze

Her main obstacle is the language barrier in Germany. She overcomes it with a lot of bravado and help from her friends. Of course, it also helps that a lot of Germans speak English well!
For all those planning to set up their own handmade business, Kat kindly shares this advice:

If you are passionate, never give up. Setting up a business is not easy, especially if you are in Handmade. Don't sell yourself short. Learn from the experience of others. A little bit of humility and sincerity often opens up doors and hearts. In Handmade, mutual support is very important, keep encouraging each other!

Thursday, December 8

Tanya Whelan is a US fabric and sewing pattern designer currently living in Belgium, and some of you might know that I adore her fabric collections. Most of my Peridot line is made from her fabrics! I was thrilled when I found out about her new book. It's due for release end of this month. Here's the blurb from Amazon:

Grand Revival designer Tanya Whelan’s vintage modern aesthetic has made her fabrics and sewing patterns some of the most admired by sewers and quilters everywhere. In her first book, she presents a stylish collection of 30 easy-to-make sewing projects that are achievable by sewers of every skill level. Ranging from a pretty pleated clutch to a flirty French-inspired day dress and super-cute soft baby toys to a mistake-proof design-as-you-go quilt, each project comes with step-by-step instructions and illustrations, inspiring photographs, and helpful tips. These projects and patterns for children, adults, and the home are guaranteed to work well and produce a beautiful end result. Included are 3 pattern sheets enclosed in a handy pocket, providing everything you need to start stitching something you are sure to love.

Monday, December 5

the week has only just begun and I'm already tired out. Today too many things happened at once and all of them needed my attention. I'll let you in on a secret ~ I'm not a very good multitasker. I much prefer doing things one after the other, but alas it wasn't to be today...

I'm going to show you a couple of things that I found at craft and fleamarkets, and that always help to cheer me up! Many moons ago my favourite teacher gave me a knitting dolly. Who remembers these? Mine was blue with a red hat and I loved it! I spent hours knitting the wool into long strings, and I do believe that all of my family received coasters that Christmas! So when I spotted this knitting dolly I knew I had to have it for the sake of nostalgia. I do plan on using it when I have the time...

I hope these pictures brought about a smile or a nice memory from your childhood. I feel better already just looking at my "Strickliesel" ! But before I can even think about trying it out I must head to the kitchen to cook dinner. Will this day never end?! Hope your Monday was less stressful.

Friday, December 2

I love making and receiving handmade gifts! There is something truly special about a handmade item, and anyone who has ever attempted at making and selling their own product will agree that it is also a lot of work. I feel good about buying gifts from other small businesses, knowing that each item has the maker's personal stamp on them. So much more fun than mass-produced don't you think?

As most of you know I really love polka dots...and pink...and lace! So this clutch really epitomizes my personality :) I have to admit, that I don't make this type of bag very often, perhaps due to the fact that attaching the frame is such a fiddly and sticky job - literally. But the glue I use is the best on the market and after it's dried, fabric and frame are well and truly bonded.

Romantic fabrics......romantische Stoffe....

In the collage below you can see that the images were snapped on two different days. We have pretty inconstant weather at the moment, so I tend to snap away so long as it's bright!

Sunday, November 27

When I first joined Etsy one of the first people I "met" was Vanessa Kirsch. We struck up a rapport, and so I have the great pleasure of introducing her to you today! Vanessa is a trained graphic designer from Venezuela, married to German photographer Matthias Kirsch, and now living in the northern part of Germany with their son. Vanessa's shop Kirschbits was born from her curiosity and desire to try out new materials and developing ideas to actual products, combining creativity and sewing skills taught by her seamstress mother. After experimenting with knitting and painting, Vanessa found that she is most passionate about sewing, thereby following in her mother's footsteps!

autumn-inspired wristlet / Clutch

Vanessa says creating is like breathing for her -- even if she is super busy, not a day passes without finishing one of her many projects or starting on new ideas. There's a constant stream of ideas running through her mind and sooner or later she must realize them! She keeps motivated by learning new techniques and the challenge of sewing beautiful yet practical bags from a simple sketch. Vanessa continuously works on improving new found skills, and tends to create bags that are useful as well as beautifully handmade. As a designer she always feels the need to create things that have a purpose beyond just "looking nice". She creates all types of bags, from shoulder to crossbody, handbags, wristlets, messenger and zip pouches ~ bags are obviously Vanessa's forte.

reversible tote / wendbare Schultertasche

Vanessa's most memorable accomplishment was designing a custom bag to the specifications provided by a lovely customer. He loved the result so much, that he immediately ordered another bag to store his rollerblades! He was totally impressed by Vanessa's skills that he ordered yet another bag - a huge challenge, as he wanted to recreate a piece of art from a famous architect onto the fabric. Vanessa crafted a masterpiece of a bag and loved it so much it was difficult for her to give it over to her customer! We can all empathize with that :) Her efforts were rewarded when the customer sent her a photo carrying this amazing bag on his trip through Norway!

ruffled pouch in avocado green / gerüschtes Täschchen in Avocadogrün

The bag designer's biggest obstacle to grow her business is time ~ juggling her household, her duties as mother, dealing with day-to-day business issues as well as coming up with new ideas and implementing them is a constant challenge. One other obstacle is the lack of opportunities in her region to showcase her products at special events or craft markets. Vanessa's advice to crafters just getting on board: believe in yourself, your product and business! Try not to procrastinate. It's satisfying as well as motivating getting things done on time! Keep everything pertaining to your business in order: your work space, material and tools of your trade, bills, accounting; To-Do lists help not only prioritize business issues but daily life too! This will save a lot of time and will help to find what you are looking for at the time you need it.

Friday, November 25

I hope my US friends enjoyed Thanksgiving and you are not feeling too stuffed ;-)
Guess what? Only 29 days till Christmas (or 28 in our case, since we celebrate on Christmas Eve). I'll be spending the holidays with my mom.
My tiny home office currently resembles Santa's workshop as I'm putting the finishing touches on gifts and writing the last of the cards. As every year I like to get this done early, so that come December I can sit back and relax while watching everyone else frantically rushing from one shop to the next! I tell you, it's a great feeling crossing that off my to-do list ahead of time.

Tuesday, November 22

Hi friends! I hope you all had a great weekend. I know most of you (living in the US) are busy preparing for Thanksgiving. I did not do much other than packing the last of the handmade gifts and browsing through my blog archive. I started this blog in 2008 mainly to showcase my handmade items as well as promoting handmade in general. Along the way it became much more than that. I found myself blogging about all sorts of topics from traveling to recipes, and my cat Sammy. I shared anecdotes, pictures of seasonal flowers in the garden and even wrote about my hospital visits, which were frequent in 2009/10. Right from the beginning I connected with people in the blogosphere and enjoyed (and still do!) the interaction. And even though not all of what I blog about is happy I'm amazed and truly appreciate that some of you, whom I consider to be my friends, have stuck around all these years, through good and bad times :)
So, this is my way of giving thanks to my dear readers who have become my friends. Thank you! I truly appreciate our friendship.

I know there are many, many more lovely bloggers out there whom I interact with on a regular basis. Know that I appreciate every single one of you and love reading your comments!

*

At the weekend this was my attempt at making hot cross buns. They are nothing like those that Ann made (I'm sure she must be cringing at the sight of these!). They tasted okay, but somehow turned out a bit tough, plus the marzipan on top broke! Oh well.

Sunday, November 20

Today it's my pleasure to introduce to you native Estonian Eeli, who currently lives with her Danish husband and two sons in Denmark. Eeli grew up in an artist family and started to paint at four years old. Later she studied art at the University in Tallinn.
Eeli has worked as a news graphic designer and illustrator with fifteen years experience, but she craved being her own boss, to use her time doing something she really loves, like painting and designing! So in May of 2010 she opened her Etsy shop specializing in original, contemporary art and abstract paintings on canvas. As a mixed media artist Eeli incorporates newspaper, acrylic paint, paper clips, old letters and photos into her work. She is fascinated by colours and uses a unique layering transfer- and watercolour technique on her paintings.

Tour de France ~ original fine art painting

Eeli is continuously learning new techniques and improving her technical skills. She is excited about growing her business which she built "from scratch". Going from zero income to selling her art work counts as her most memorable accomplishment, as well as overcoming her fear of making a living as a full-time artist. In her own words: "every time I make a sale I jump around and cheer like a child". And we are cheering you on, Eeli!

mixed media ~ American football painting

And what's the biggest obstacle concerning her business? Time-management! She makes lists to remember and prioritize tasks. After all, there are only so many hours in the day!
Eeli's advice for newbies is if you are passionate about your work go for it. Why wait? There may not be a tomorrow. She says to start small and grow your business over time. Set goals and remember to re-evaluate them along the way. Learn from mistakes (we all do them), learn from others, be consistent and most importantly don't give up! Having an own business is hard work, but it is worth it :)

Friday, November 18

I shared these on Facebook, but I just had to share them here on my blog as well, because sighting a grey heron is a very rare thing! This elegant bird landed atop a tree in the garden very early yesterday morning. What a balancing act!

The heron has symbolic meaning in many cultures.The native American Iroquois tribe believe the heron is a symbol of wisdom and a very good omen. I'm currently in a "sick phase", so I sure hope seeing this graceful bird is a lucky omen for me...

It stayed for a few minutes and then spread its wings and gently glided away.

Wednesday, November 16

One of my cabinets in my tiny home office is filled to the bursting point with all sorts of haberdashery ~ binding, piping, webbing, trims and notions of all kinds and in all colours! I've been sorting through it all, discovering a few things I didn't even realize I had. I've decided to destash some of the items I will probably never use, and I'll be listing these in my fabric shoppe soon!

What else is new? Well, I received this gorgeous fabric from Amy Butler's newest collection called Lark. It's bohemian-inspired with Asian influences. The colours really pop. This fabric is destined to be made into tunics for my Peridot line.

Friday, November 11

To answer your questions in my previous post: Yes indeed! The new sewing machine had been delivered and thank goodness for that! I am getting acquainted with it, and I know we will become best friends :) My bedtime reading consists of the manual and leaflets that came with the machine.
And after my long sewing hiatus I'm oh-so-proud to have finally turned an idea that has been swirling round in my head for ages into this...

Einzelstück, entworfen und in Handarbeit gefertigt / OOAK designed and handmade by me

The lighting is disastrous. It's grey and foggy outside, so these pictures are as good as they get. The pouch is made from pure natural linen. Any irregularities are unique to linen fabric and add to the charm. The twine is stitched on and is part of the overall design. It is fully lined with a delightful rose print.

This is a OOAKpiece. Measurements: 8" wide to 9.5" wide at the bottom. 8" tall. 1.5" deep. It retails for approx. USD 33,70 plus shipping. I will be offering it here on my blog to anyone interested first before listing it in my shop in a couple of days.

Monday, November 7

How was your weekend? Almost all the leaves have come down from the big tree in our garden revealing the houses on the other side. The typical morning fog is back. So while I'm waiting for my new sewing machine to arrive I spent mine indoors reading. And browsing Pinterest. I have a whole board dedicated to the "colour" white. I love white in fashion and interiors. Here are a few of my favourite pins: